Accordion pleating machine



Get. 16, 1945. w. T. MAXANT 2,387,163 EATING MACHINE ACCORDION PL 2 SheetS -Sheef- 1 Filed Aug. 23, 1943 mum 5 st 16, 1945. Q w. 'r. MAXANT 52,387,153

ACCORDION PLEATING MACHINE Filed Aug. 23, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Oct. 16, 1945 ACCORDION PLEATING MACHINE William T.-'Maxant, Ayer, Mass. Application August 23, 1943. seriaruo. 499,672

(or gas-'30) 6 Claims.

This invention relates to an improvement in accordion pleating machines, such as are used for the pleating of fabric, paper or othermaterial, in forming accordion pleats therein.

Although accordion pleating machines have been in use for many years, these'have operated generally to form the pleats cold, as represented in Chandler patent, No. 671,791, granted April 9-, 1901. After the pressing of the material between the opposed surfacesto form thepleats in a cold condition, it has always been the practice hereto.- fore to reef the pleats into a rack where they are compressed, and then are placed in a steaming cabinet for the setting of the pleats. Such a steaming operation requires the retention of the rack containingthe pleated'material, for a. sufiicient length of time to accomplish-the setting of the pleats. Where only onesteaming cabinet is available in the average pleating shop, the pleating operation must. be stopped when the cabinet is full until the steaming operation has been completed. Thus it is impossible to operate the pleating machine continuously, and operation on a. large order is seriously restricted by this aftersteaming operation.

This condition has long been recognized in the pleating industry; and While attempts have been made heretofore to eliminate the necessity-forthe separate steaming cabinet, these have not been satisfactory and have since been abandoned. Thus it has been proposed to use cast iron and steel reefing racks that were heated by steam and gas. In an attempt to heat the folds in a pleat before the steaming operation, the gas heat would buckle the plates and heat only the under side of the pleats. The steam heated plates required a completely enclosed casing with partitions inside for the, steam chambers, which madeit so heavy that it required several men to lift the steam plate onto the machine. Such attempts. were-so entirely impractical in operation that they have since-been abandoned and never went into general commercial use. Consequently the trade has always used the separate steam cabinet to set the pleats. 1

It is the object'o-f this invention to improve the operation and construction of an accordion pleating machine, to-provide for continuous operation in a practical manner, setting the pleats directly in the machine during their formation.

This is accomplished by the application of heat directly to one or more of the pleat-forming elements, such as the pusher bar or the back knife or both, whereby the coaction of'these elements to form the pleats will apply heat directlyto the material during the-'formationoi the pleat sufile ciently to set the pleats effectively. I have discovered that this eliminates entirely the necessity for subsequentrsteaming operations orseparate heating devices, and enables the pleating machine to form the pleats continuously in operation without. the necessity for stoppingv at ire quent intervals while-the material is transferred to the steaming cabinet.

Another feature of the inventionis the elimination of clamps on the reefing racks. In the pleating operation as performed. heretofore, the formation of the pleats in cold condition made it necessary for the material to enter the compression rack under considerable tension. This. required that the racks be held confined with clamps or the top held down by weights. to prevent the. material from buckling and forcing the compression rack open. This increased pressure caused the machine to work under increased pressure and added to the difficulty of operation. By heating the pusher bar or back knife, all of this compression is substantially eliminated, as. the. pleats are formed and holdtheir shape without tension and without. any'tendency to resume their former unpleated. condition. eliminates. the. necessity for clamps or weights. on the reefing racks because compression. thereofis. not necessary and the racks merely guide the materialto the point of discharge from? the machine. It is thus possible to'leavethe rack open atv the discharge end, instead of closed as. heretofore, and the-material falls from the rack into a receptacle. -In some instances, the racks can be eliminated and feeding trays used, which was not possible with the cold machines. customarily used heretofore.

. Thev invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings. in which:

Figs 1 is a vertical sectional view through-the pleating elements of the machine, showing the heater applied to the pusher bar;

. Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the heater applied to the. back knife;

3'-is. a. perspective view of the pusher ba detached, with the heater element thereon; and Fig; 4 is aside elevation of the accordion pleating machine embodying this invention.

The: invention is. shown. as applied to an accordion pleating machine of the character wellknown in the art, havinglong been in commercial use, such for instance as that shown in the patent to Chandler, No. 671,791,, granted April 9, 1901, to which reference is madeior more detailed operation of the machine. 5,

Referring to Fig. 1, the...pleating'machine is constructed with a front machine bed I and an aligned rear machine bed 2, separated from each other in part by a throat 3 in which a breaker blade 4 operates.

Mounted above the bed 2 is a back knife 5 adapted to reciprocate vertically thereover, at right angles to the upper surface of the bed 2.

The numeral 6 represents a pusher bar havin a movement generally in a horizontal direction parallel with the upper surface of thebed I. This pusher bar 6 is substantially L-shaped in cross section, and is supported upon a wedge member 1 to which it is rigidly fixed and slidable therewith relative to the bed I. Interposed between the pusher bar 6 and wedge l is a comb plate 9 having a series of fingers at the forward edge thereof in position to engage and grip the fabric, designated generally F, and to feed it through the machine. The forward face of the pusher bar 6 is provided with a face plate 8 of heat conducting material which is also smooth to engage and press the fabric during the pleating operation. This plate 8 is formed preferably of brass which has the desired properties therefor.

The details of the operating means for these parts are not shown in the drawings, except generally in Fig. 4, because these pleating elements are operated in the conventional manner to accomplish the pleating action, as represented by Chandler patent, Nd. 671,791, referred to above.

The manner of heating the pleating element or elements, according to this invention, to accomplish .the heating action simultaneously with the formation of the pleats, is by the application of heat directly to one or more of these elements, as shown for instancein Figs. 1 and 2. I prefer to apply the heating unit directly to the pusher bar 6, and to use an electric heating strip, wellknown in the art, for this purpose, such as is designated at In in Figs. 1 and 3. This heater unit has a fiat electrical conducting coil bent back and forth in an enclosing casing that is applied directly to the back face of the pusher bar 6 and is secured thereto by screws, bolts or other fastenings H for detachment and replacement when required. The strip is provided with terminals [2 to which an electric cable I3 is connected and which extends to a source of electric supply. A control device is shown at l4 in Fig. 1 connected with the cable I3, and preferably is constructed for thermostatic control, in a conventional manner. This device may be adjustable as shown to provide different temperatures for the machine, according to different materials being pleated.

The heating unit is shown as applied in the angle of the L-shaped pusher bar 6. This pusher bar is usually constructed of cast iron or other readily conducting material for heat, but should be faced with a smooth heat conducting .material, such as the brass plate 8, which will bear directly upon the material and apply both a pressing action and a heating action thereto in forming and setting the pleats. A cover 15 is secured over the heating unit to to enclose the latter, and is preferably removable to permit replacement of the heater when required. For this purpose the cover is shown as secured in place by screws l6.

While the heater is shown in Fig. 1, as applied to the pusher bar 6, it may be applied instead, or in addition thereto, to the back knife 5, as shown at H! in Fig. 2, being enclosed by a removable cover l5. The back knife 5 is usually made of steel or other suitable heat conducting material that will be effective to transmit the heat from the strip Hi to the material that bears against the face of the back knife.

The machine bed 2 has a shelf or bracket H for supporting one end of the reefing rack, the opposite end being supported on a stand l8 (Fig. 4), usually mounted at the opposite end of the machine table (9 from the pleating mechanism. The reefing rack is constructed as usual of a series of pairs Of slats, designated generally at 20, spaced apart vertically to receive the pleated material therebetween. However, the spacing blocks and clamp ordinarily provided to apply a compression action to the reefing rack is omitted entirely because it is not required with this invention since there is no expanding tendency of the pleated material as it passes through the rack. Likewise the separating board normally provided at the closed end of the reefing rack, is omitted also, and the slats are held separated from each other and open-at the discharge end to permit the continuous discharge of the pleated material therefrom into a basket or other receptacle 22. In some cases, th reefing rack may be eliminated entirely and replaced by feeding trays, especially in feeding narrow strips through the machine. Thi has not been possible heretofore with machines operating on the cold principle.

As mentioned above, the parts of the pleating machines'are operated in th usual manner to accomplish the pleating action. The fabric to be pleated is fed'into the machine ordinarily with a supporting web of paper, as indicated in Fig. 4. The fabric F is fed over the surface of the machine bed I by the comb plate 9, attached to the pusher barfi, during the forward motion of this pusher bar. On the back motion of the pusher bar, the latter is lifted slightly to. clear the fabric F and then the comb plate is moved downward into engagement .therewith and forwardly to feed the fabric toward the back knife 5.

In the meantime, th back knife 5 presses downward at its lower edge on the material to hold it in clamping relation with the bed 2, confining the formed pleats behind the knife as shown in Fig. 1. As the pusher bar 5 starts its forward motion, the breaker blade 4 is moved upward through the slot 3 to break the fabric and start the formation of the pleat. Then the breaker blade 4 moves downward again out of the path of the pusher bar 6 before the latter bears against the back knife 5, pressing the material therebetween.

Since the pusher bar 6 and its face plate 8 are heated by the conducting strip H1 connected therewith, or heat is applied to the back knife 5, the pressing of the pleat between the plate 8 and the back knife 5 upon the relative motion of these together, will not only form the pleat in the fabric in the customary manner, but will apply heat directly to the pleat simultaneously with the formation theerof. This sets the pleat and causes it to hold its shape without tension and without any tendency to straighten out.

The formed pleats then move forward through the reefing rack, being held under tension therein by a slidable block 23, until the leated material is discharged automatically at the open opposite end. of the rack. After the material has been pleated sufficiently to fill the rack from end to end, the block 23 may be removed, allowing the continuous pleating operation without interruption and without the necessity for subsequent steaming or other heat treatment to set the pleats. The material would be discharged then directly from the rack into the receptacle 22, ready for use.

I claim:

1. A pleating machine comprising means for forming accordion pleats in web material including relatively movable elements arranged to fold the material back and forth upon itself substantially at right angles to the length of the material to form a pleat therein, said elements being arranged for opposed pressure relation against opposite sides of the pleat in the web material, and means for applying heat through one of said elements to the formed pleat while the elements are in pressure relation with each other.

2. A pleating machine comprising a, bed surface adapted for movement of web material thereover, an abutment jaw mounted for movement toward and from the bed surface, a pushing jaw mounted for movement along the bed surface toward and from the abutment jaw, and arranged to form accordion pleats in the web material which are pressed between said jaws upon movement thereof in opposed bearing relation, and means for applying heat directly to one of said jaws suflicient to set the pleats formed therebetween.

3. A pleating machine comprising a bed surface adapted for movement of web material thereover, an abutment jaw mounted for movement toward and from the bed surface, a pushing jaw mounted for movement along the bed surface toward and from the abutment jaw, and arranged to form accordion pleats in the web material which are pressed between said jaws upon movement thereof in opposed bearing relation, a metallic face plate secured to said pushing jaw in position to bear against the material folded between the jaws, a heating element applied directly to the pushing jaw and in heat conducting relation with the face plate to apply heat therethrough to the formed pleat between the jaws, means for detachably securing said heating element to the pushing jaw, and a cover extending over the heating element and detachably secured to the pushing jaw.

4. A pleating machine comprising a bed surface adapted for movement of web material thereover, an abutment jaw mounted for movement toward and from the bed surface, a pushing jaw mounted for movement along the bed surface toward and from the abutment jaw and arranged to form accordion pleats in the web material which are pressed between said jaws upon movement thereof in opposed bearing relation, and means for applying heat directly to the-pushing jaw to apply heat directly to the pleats as formed between said Jaws.

5. A pleating machine comprising means for forming accordion pleats in web material including relatively movable elements arranged to fold the material back and forth upon itself substantially at right angles to the length of the material, said elements including a, vertically reciprocatingback knife, a pushing jaw movable toward and from the back knife, and means for applying heat directly to the pushing jaw to apply heat directly to the pleats as formed between said relatively movable elements.

6. A pleating machine comprising a bed surface adapted for movement of the web material thereover, an abutment jaw mounted for movement toward and from the bed surface, a pushing jaw mounted for movement along the bed surface toward and from the abutment jaw and arranged to form accordion pleats in the web material which are pressed between said jaws upon movement thereof in opposed bearing relation, and an electrical heating element applied directly to said pushing jaw in heat conducting relationshi with the face thereof for applying heat therefrom to the pleats as formed between the jaws.

WILLIAM T. MAXANT. 

